THE Third Object of the Society reads: “To
investigate unexplained laws of Nature and the powers latent in man”.
First of all, is the word “unexplained” the right word in that
sentence? Should it not really be “undiscovered”? The word “unexplained” implies
that we have already identified the laws, we perceive their existence, but
they have not been explained because of some obscurity in them or because of
their complex or complicated nature, whereas the word “undiscovered” would
imply only the presumption
that there are laws unknown to us at present.

The field of the Third Object suggests an open
expanse, open to exploration, and it can be conceived as including everything
uncommon or seemingly miraculous, such as the phenomena which H.P. Blavatsky
performed in her time. In her first work, Isis Unveiled, she ranges
over a vast field covering almost everything out of the ordinary, or unexplained
at that time: clairvoyance of various sorts, leaving the body at will and travelling
to a distance, feats of levitation, psychometry, reading the mysteries of the
past, intercourse with the dead and other non-physical entities, materializations,
the passage of matter through matter, and so forth. Perhaps we can include
in such studies even the rationale of astrology, not the art of astrology or
the practice of it, but rather the whole theory which underlies the significance
of the zodiacal signs and the planets, their positions and relationships, the
attribution to them of certain influences on our lives and the events that
take place. All that is beyond what we can see directly for ourselves, but
while it may be interesting as a matter of study, it cannot, I think, really
come under the description of Theosophy as the Divine Wisdom. We must not confuse
knowledge, even of the occult side of Nature, with Wisdom which springs from
the depths of a certain nature in ourselves. It would certainly be of interest
and useful to know how gravitation can be reversed. It seems there are scientists
both in the United States and in Russia who are at work on that very question.
But even if one finds out that secret, it would not necessarily make him wise
in any real sense.

Although the Third Object speaks of laws and powers,
much work accomplished through these powers is a description. For instance,
the literature concerning the astral and mental planes, the etheric body, the
chakras, and so forth, reads like the description of some extraordinary region
and of the activities taking
place there.

It is said sometimes that we do not pay much attention
to the Third Object these days, but we have to realize that such investigation
as it calls for requires people trained to undertake it, and then their competence
and findings cannot easily be proved to others. There will always be room therefore
for scepticism and differences. A person who is psychic or clairvoyant may
say, “I see such and such things,” but he may be seeing only projections
of what is already subconsciously in himself, creating forms out of his own
ideas and visualizing them. It is only people who have the necessary training
and faculties who can undertake investigation in a real sense, as distinguished
from mere study of what others have said on the subject. As what the seers
or investigators, competent in different degrees, say is not open to verification
by us, we have to judge it with our own reason and understanding. The work
of the Third Object, in the sense of investigating the un-explained and the
latent, can therefore be undertaken only by individuals on their own responsibility,
or occasionally by a team, and not by the Society as a whole. Brother C.W.
Leadbeater, or even H.P.B., was not officially commissioned to undertake any
such task; they undertook whatever they did along that line of their own accord
and published the results of their researches for the benefit
of all.

Of course we can interpret the Third Object to
include such activities as are carried on by the Psychical Research Society.
But there seems to be no point in the Theosophical Society duplicating the
work of such a body, any more than it should duplicate the activities of scientists,
although their activities are also concerned with truth or aspects of the truth.
Nor do I think it would be wise for us officially to start yoga classes to
rouse kundalini, stimulate the chakras, or do anything of that sort by which
we may be doing the greatest harm to the people concerned, although there are
people who think that these are things that we should be doing. It is not our
business, as a Society, to engage in activities of a spiritualistic nature,
even if some good results
could be obtained thereby.

If the Society’s aims are philanthropic
and spiritual in essence, we must keep that aim steadily in view and not cause
confusion in the minds of people between spirituality and psychism. We must
be careful not to invest the Society with a character that does not belong
to it, identifying it with psychic
pursuits of different sorts.

In the East - especially in India - the great
spiritual teachers have regarded the possession of psychic powers in general
as a liability rather than an asset on the path of spiritual progress. Whether
or not that is so would depend very much on the person who possesses these
powers and the way he uses them, the kind of person he is and his motives.
In any case, the seeking of such powers, which is usually out of motives
that tend towards the sensational even when they are not actually selfish,
becomes a distraction from the discovery of the truth about oneself, from self-knowledge.
We may, of course, consider and discuss what is given out by an individual
by the use of such powers and all interested can join in such discussion. In
other words, as a Society, we can only investigate at the intellectual level,
that is, study and discuss, and there are many Lodges which engage in such
work. That kind of investigation is really the widening of the field of scientific
and philosophical observation
and thought.

How
it Grew and Changed

I might here point out the various versions we
have had in the past of this Third Object, as they throw light upon the thought
of the leading people in the Society as it has developed. It will give us a
little insight into what is actually behind the present wording. When the Society
was started in 1875, the only Object mentioned in its by-laws was as follows: “The
Objects of the Society are to collect and diffuse a knowledge of the laws which
govern the universe.” There is no mention at all of Brotherhood; the
idea of Brotherhood, as the records show, appears for the first time in the
history of the Society in 1878. Colonel Olcott, the President-Founder, records
the fact that Brotherhood was not thought of in the beginning. In fact, the
whole question whether Brotherhood should be the primary Object, or Occultism
in the ordinary sense of the term, was a matter of considerable discussion
between the Adepts and those with whom they corresponded, namely, Mr. Sinnett
and Mr. Hume. In 1878, activities commenced in England with the formation of
a body entitled the British Theosophical Society, and that Society issued a
circular in which it was stated that it was founded “for the purpose
of discovering the nature and powers of the human soul and Spirit by investigation
and experiment” - an ambitious undertaking apparently adopted without
any clear idea of what it involved. In February 1880, the General Council of
the Society formulated certain Objects which correspond to the present Third
Object, and were as follows:

First, “ To keep alive in man the spiritual
intuitions”. It was not stated how
that was going to be attempted.

Secondly, “To oppose and counteract after
due investigation and proof of its irrational nature, bigotry in every form,
whether as an intolerant religious sectarianism or belief in miracles or anything
supernatural”.

Thirdly, “ To seek to obtain knowledge of
all the laws of Nature and aid in diffusing it; and especially to encourage
the study of those laws least understood by modern people and so termed the
Occult Sciences”.

I do not know whether the words “all of” were
put in advisedly, or whether it was because of the tendency of all of us to
speak in unqualified
terms exceeding what we actually mean.

In 1883 and also in 1884 various modifications
of these objects were adopted by different Lodges to suit their ideas and fancies.
Apparently they could do so because the parent Society was not organized sufficiently
to guide them nor had the aims been generally agreed upon and fixed at that
time. There was the Himalayan Theosophical Society, for instance, which regarded
itself as a rather superior body. It included Mr. A. P. Sinnett and Mr. A.
O. Hume, and its objects were stated in these terms: First, “Universal
Brotherhood”; apparently this was put down as a concession to the Adepts
who insisted upon Brotherhood as the primary aim. Secondly, “The union
of the individual Monad with the Infinite and Absolute”; an aim laudable
enough, but permitting some doubt as to whether those who formulated it had
any idea of the actual nature of what was adumbrated. Then thirdly, and this
sounds almost commonplace after that second grandiose aim: “The study
of the hidden mysteries of Nature and the development of the psychical powers
latent in man.”

The London Lodge, which was a very active and
important body in the early history of the Society when Mr. Sinnett was associated
with it, formulated this object as follows: “The investigation of the
nature of existence, with a view to the comprehension and realization of the
higher potentialities of man, and the revival of research connected with occult
science and esoteric philosophy.” The inclusion of the phrase “the
nature of existence” seems to be also an indication of the vagueness
as regards what was to be investigated that obtained in various groups at this
time. Also we may note a distinction is made here between occult science and
esoteric philosophy, or perhaps the phrases were used to refer to two different
sides of the same undertaking.

In the Annual Report of 1885, ten years after
the founding, the Third Object was defined as follows: “The Third Object,
pursued by a portion of the members of the Society, is to investigate unexplained
laws of Nature and the physical powers of man”. The First Object was
very much as at present, but the Second Object, instead of speaking of comparative
religion, philosophy and science, speaks of “Aryan and other Eastern
religions and philosophies”. Coming down to 1890, we find the Third Object
reduced to a near approximation of its present form: “To investigate
unexplained laws of Nature and the psychic powers latent in man”. Later
the word “psychic” was omitted and the Object was put in the form
in which it is today. Mr. Jinarajadasa, in The Golden Book of the Theosophical
Society, makes the following comment on these various versions: “It
was merely the outer form that had to find an adequate expression through the
various changes.”

H.P.B., in The Key to Theosophy, makes
a clear distinction between a Theosophist and an occultist. “The latter,” she
says, “is concerned with the hidden processes in Nature, the secret potency
of things in Nature”. In an article entitled, “Recent Progress
in Theosophy” - apparently the article was written at about the same
time - she explained: “The Third Object, pursued by a portion of the
fellows of the Society, is to investigate the unexplained laws of Nature and
the psychic nature of man. There are two general objects and one restricted
object of attention. Only a portion of our fellows occupy themselves with the
occult properties of matter and the psychical powers of man.” I do not
know if there is any member at present who is occupying himself with the occult
properties of matter. “The Society as a whole,” she wrote further, “ is
not concerned with this branch of research, and naturally, for out of every
10,000 people one may meet the chances are that but a very small minority have
the time, taste or ability to take up such delicate and baffling studies. We
thought it a good thing to proclaim this line of research and self-discovery
as the third of our three Objects. For those who are interested in it and all
enquirers whom they can reach and encourage the mystical philosophical books
of the present and former times have been
written.”

From what I have just quoted, it is to be noted
that she did not regard the mystical philosophical works of the past as outdated
by later writings. There are persons who think that what we call Theosophical
literature has completely superceded all earlier works, sometimes called “historical
Theosophy”. Also, she includes “self-discovery” as coming
under the Third
Object. That is work in which all of can engage.

Criteria of
Truth

I would like to consider here the kind of mind
that is needed for the study of Occultism. For this study particularly, also
to investigate any aspect of truth, there must be a mind which is truthful
in the strictest sense, that is, a mind which does not prevaricate, does not
gloss over things the truth of which is inconvenient to itself, has no vested
interest in any ideas, does not deceive itself, and does not project concepts
agreeable to itself. I do not know which of us has such a mind, but it seems
to me perfectly obvious that before we can study Occultism in earnest and make
a success of it, we have to have that kind of mind. If a person is conditioned
in certain ways, whatever concepts he may project are likely to partake of
that conditioning.

We might also consider the question of what might
be regarded as valid knowledge, what we may apply. Obviously, what is perceived
or experienced by a person is an item of knowledge to him, not necessarily
an absolute proof of the truth he may imagine it to be but true so far as it
goes. I see something that looks to me to be solid and green, but the nature
of the thing may actually be different from how I see it. In any case, it will
have various aspects which are not evident to me. Therefore it is not the absolute
or the whole truth which I perceive or experience. Nevertheless, as a perception
or as an experience that has come to me, as evidence, it has its own significance.
Secondly, when we register certain facts, the relations between them, the inferences
which we draw from our perceptions, have obviously a validity on the same plane
as the perceptions themselves. It may have more validity as a process of thought,
for the premises may be wrong while the reasoning is right. Thirdly, we may
accept provisionally statements coming from what we consider to be knowledgeable
sources. In this connection the question would arise as to whether the source is really
knowledgeable as regards the matters in question. If I want to know something
about conditions in Antarctica, naturally I have to accept the statements of
those who have been to that part of the globe, provided I consider those persons
to be trustworthy. In the same way, there are many statements in The Mahatma
Letters which are accepted by very many members because the sources, we
have reason to think, are highly knowledgeable as to the matters dealt with.
Apart from all this, it is also legitimate to indulge in, if that is the appropriate
word, or to frame a hypothesis which explains, which is consonant with facts
and illuminates them. In modern Science there is the constant framing of hypotheses,
theories and equations and later amendment of them. When we entertain a theory,
we must not equate it in our own minds with absolute truth. It explains; to
entertain it on that basis seems to me to be perfectly legitimate: for then
it does not diminish the freedom to progress towards a larger or the absolute
truth.

Then one might add that there is what we call
Intuition, a much understood term. Real intuition is either an undistorted
perception springing from or a creation by the total consciousness. To include
intuition as a form of knowing does not seem to me to be unscientific. It
depends on what we mean by that word. Before the faculty of true Intuition
can come
into play there has to be a cessation of wishful thinking and the mind has
to be clear of preconceived ideas. Just as there has to be temperance, moderation,
in our physical living, so there has also to be austerity in one’s
thinking, not deviation into pleasant paths. When we imagine because we like
to imagine,
go off into fantasies of different kinds, it becomes a kind of indulgence;
but to come to the truth one should have that quality of austerity which
keeps clear of the propensity to fall for what is for the time being comforting
and
pleasant.

Laws of Different
Categories

The laws of Nature can be of different classes.
First there are the laws of matter in different grades, whether these are such
as to be cognized by our senses or exist beyond their limited range. Then there
are laws which pertain to the nature of life, its characteristics, its action
and evolution. Then there are the laws of the mind, of psychology and the psyche.
To these I would add the laws of harmony, which are an entire branch of the
whole subject, involving the intuitive perception of harmonies and discords
in many different fields. When you listen to music you say: “Well, that
is a harmony”. How do you establish the harmony to your own satisfaction?
There is no tangible way or proving to another the harmony you experience.
It is by an intuitive perception that one knows or feels the harmony in sounds
for colors or movements of anything else. I would say further there is such
a thing as the laws of one’s own inner being or Spirit. That might sound
a little mystical and vague. I will explain what I mean presently. There can
be laws that in their operation comprehend several different levels of existence,
such as the law of Karma, which in one aspect is mechanical and invariable,
yet in another aspect is moral and involves the concept of justice. Somehow
these two aspects are co-ordinated in Karma as we understand
it.

I spoke of the law of the Spirit. The question
may be asked: Is not the nature and action of the Spirit to be identified wholly
with freedom? Can you speak of law when you refer to freedom? But let us consider
this fact: the action of this most interior principle of the Spirit results
every time in a perfect creation; and what is perfect or perfectly constructed
always embodies a law. For instance, there may be a perfect musical composition,
or a perfectly shaped vase. The artist just looks at the form of the vase or
listens to the music and says it is perfect. It is also the artistic sense
which brought it into existence. But if with another type of mind you examine
the construction of the vase or the musical symphony, you will find certain
concrete laws embodies in the construction. The artist, without going through
a process of thought, has embodied a form of law in the creation which he produces
and the law which is embodied is always a law of harmony. It is an un-thought-out
law. So we may say of a creation by the Spirit that it follows the law of its
own being.

Everywhere in Nature there are laws, but there
is also freedom, Nature - including man - being an intermixture of Spirit and
Matter. Or, to use the Samskrit words which are pregnant with meaning, Purusha and Prakriti.Prakriti is
that which has come into existence by a process, Purusha is eternally
one and undifferentiated; it is the energy that exists always, but periodically
electrifies the root of matter. The Atman, the universal spiritual principle
that is at the base of that energy, is omnipresent, it is at every point, and
every manifestation of it has an aspect of eternity. The manifestation is limited,
because to manifest itself, the Atman, the spark of the Divine, has to be embodied
in some type of vesture and its action, its light, is limited and broken up
by the vesture. That which has in it the nature of eternity can be symbolized
by a circle, whether large or small. But the circle has to be squared within
the limitations of the body of matter. That is how things are in Nature. Perhaps
the various Platonic solids are really stages in the approximation to the sphere,
which is a form of a circle and is said
to be the perfect geometrical figure.

Powers related
to State of Being

Now as regards the powers latent in man. If they
are really latent, how are you going to investigate or observe them? You cannot
investigate that which you cannot observe, which you cannot touch at all. The
powers have somehow to be brought out of the state of latency, before you can
see them, study or handle them in any manner. We should not, perhaps, be too
literal-minded, but take these phrases as they are generally understood. The
powers latent in man are latent in nature that exists as one of a number of
approximations to the Ultimate, the inmost Spirit. At every level there is
an approximation which is a certain layer of being. We might, broadly speaking,
divide these
natures into psychic and spiritual.

We might regard the constitution of man as having
a base and an apex, the apex being a dimensionless point, which may be regarded
as representing the consciousness, as yet untouched by any process of time,
which is in that intangible moment, namely the present, that divides the past
from the future. There are the intermediate levels or planes between that base
and the apex. When the relationship is directly between the apex, that is to
say, the dimensionless point, and the base which may be regarded as that sub-stratum
of all things, akasha, then the relationship is spiritual. But when
the relationship is with one of the intermediate levels, then it can be spiritual
or it can be psychic, as the case may be. There are powers appropriate to each
layer of being.

This is brought out by H.P. Blavatsky in a striking
manner in an article on spiritual progress, in which she refers to psychic
powers and the work of the Theosophical Society. She points out that to become
an Adept, who has marvellous powers,
one has to become

“a new man, more perfect in every way than
he is at present, and if he succeeds, his capabilities and faculties will
receive a corresponding increase of range and power, just as in the visible
world we
find that each stage in the evolutionary scale is marked by the increase
of capacity. This is how it is that the Adept becomes endowed with marvellous
powers that have so often been described, but the main point to be remembered
is that these powers are the natural accompaniments of existence on the ordinary
human plane.”

People so often think of cultivating this or that
power, they want to work on the solar plexus or some other centre in their
bodies, but the way is entirely different. The so-called powers are really
the fruitage of the living tree
which is the human being. H.P.B. says further:

“The Society was founded to teach no new
and easy paths to the acquisition of ‘powers’; its only mission
is to re-kindle the torch of truth, so long extinguished for all but the very
few, and to keep that truth alive by the formation of a fraternal union of
mankind, the only
soil in which the good seed can grow.

“In this connection we would warn all our
members, and others who are seeking spiritual knowledge, to beware of persons
offering to teach them easy methods of acquiring psychic gifts; such gifts
are indeed comparatively easy of acquirement by artificial means, but fade
out as soon as the nerve-stimulus exhausts itself. The real seership and
adeptship which is accompanied by true psychic
development, once reached, is never lost.”

In The Mahatma Letters there are some noteworthy
statements concerning the secrets of occultism which apply to the higher psychic
powers. The corespondents of the Mahatmas at that time complained that the
Adepts seemed to grudge giving out the facts they knew. Then the
Masters says:

“The truth is that till the neophyte attains
to the condition necessary for that degree of illumination to which, and
for which, he is entitled and fitted,
most if not all of the secrets are incommunicable.’

They cannot be put into words, they cannot even
be transmitted by any telepathic means, when the mind of the other person is
not prepared to receive these secrets. If this were not so, all that the Adepts
would have to do would be to publish a handbook of the art which might be taught
in schools. That
is apparently the view that very many people entertain.

Third Object:
Its Scope and Limitations

To sum up what I have said: The study of Occultism
in general can do much good. It is the study of Nature, taking her as a totality,
not only what appears on the surface but also the hidden laws and processes.
It can be marvellously enlightening, when one takes it up in earnest; for then
instead of seeing only the superficial aspect of things, he sees through it,
penetrates to the heart of existence, sees what lies behind the facade, the
extension behind the appearance. We can all engage in such study, but to “investigate” the
hidden laws and powers requires the necessary capacity. The development of
such capacity is an individual affair, not the business of the Society, which
cannot have schools for such development. The seeking of power is dangerous,
as it builds up self-importance, the desire to enjoy it and dominate, whether
it is power in this world or power
of a different character.

Whatever anyone declares to be true by the exercise
of psychic powers may be worthy of consideration - that depends upon the person.
But it should be taken with a grain of discrimination. When you do not accept
a statement or reject it but just look at it or contemplate it you will know
your own response. If you respond to the truth of it, your register that fact.
That is really the attitude needed with regard to the pursuit of the Third
Object, which to many minds is exceedingly vague because they have not sorted
out all the implications of what they believe or refuse to believe, do not
have any clear idea of what Occultism is and what we can accept and what not.
It is necessary to have in our minds a certain clarity with regard to our aims
and undertakings, whether pertaining to the Third Object of the Society or
anything else.

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